Getting Started

Welcome Fox in Vegas, a daily report from the World Series of Poker and other major tournament series happening in Las Vegas. I was really hoping to have this thing off the ground sooner, but when no one bought it I slacked off for a few days. I’ll be playing approximately $80,000 worth of tournaments, lots of hours of cash games, and talking to players around the city in an effort to keep you abreast of what is going on.

Some things I will likely be talking about –

Travel and Survival Tips – I’ve been to Vegas enough times to have it down to a science and I’m very pleased with my accommodations and what I paid for them this year. Knowing how to get here, where to stay, and what to eat, can make your stay cheaper and a lot more enjoyable, so I’ll include some advice on the subject at least a few times a week.

Poker Strategy – Most of the strategy advice will revolve around making money here in Vegas. Whether it is advice on where to find the soft games on a given day, or how to calculate implied odds against a LAG in a high roller event, I’ll cover a little bit of everything.

My Story – I’ll be updating how things are going for me and possibly a few friends to keep things from being dry. There are already poker news sites covering the events, and I need a unique angle if I hoep to build up some readers here.

Upcoming Events – In my work with TourneyTracks.com I have a lot of information about upcoming events, and I’ve been on the road for much of the past year playing live events, so I have a good feel for which events will be profitable and what the fields should be like.

WSoP News – Winners from previous days, interesting side stories, and anything that I think readers might be interested in that happens here in Vegas.

Who knows what else I might write. I’ll be putting up something every night until July 17th when I head home to Minnesota for a few days of rest before I hit the road again for the $300k guaranteed MSPT event in Tama, Iowa less than a week after I get back. Yeah, I work too much, relax too little, and lately I’m burning the candle at both ends and wondering why the middle isn’t doing anything useful for me. That’s what a lot of pros are doing since Black Friday, working twice as much to make half the money. There’s still someone digging ditches for $10 an hour, and until I’m that guy I’ll try not to complain.

I’ll be posting these blogs on a number of sites –

PokerXFactor.com – As a featured pro and blogger on PokerXFactor, I will also be wearing PXF gear here at the series and am always happy to meet PXF subscribers. If you need a t shirt, patch, or wristband, just hit me up on twitter @foxpokerfox and I’ll find a way to get something to you. PokerXFactor is the best tournament training available anywhere, and I highly recommend it if you are tired of min cashes and bubble exits.

FoxPoker.com – This is my personal site, and I’m posting here so that no matter what else happens the blog will have a home. The full uncensored version of the Vegas Summer Report will always be available on my site unless someone decides to pay me to write it on their site and then I will let you know where it has moved to.

This blog may very well begin appearing on other sites too, and I’m hoping it spreads, so please tell all your friends. You can follow me on twitter @foxpokerfox and feel free to link to this blog from anywhere and everywhere. The more the merrier!

And now that I’ve explained briefly what I will be doing, I will begin to actually do it. Since I’ve already run fairly long, I’ll go with a quick rundown of what I’ve been doing so far and then I’m headed back to the tables.

I arrived on Wednesday night, June 30th after a crazy few weeks at home. I haven’t been able to spend much time with my wife and my dogs, and now I’m away from them again for 49 days, which is frustrating. My wife is very understanding and she knows I have to travel to pay the bills these days, but we’ll both be happy when I finally have some time at home.

Five days before I was scheduled to fly out, I got word that a dear friend had entered hospice care. I headed out that night to go see her in Michigan and didn’t get home until the night before my flight. That five days was time my wife and I had planned to spend together, so it was bad timing, but as soon as we got the news she started packing me a bag and sent me off to see my friend. So far the friend is fine, no major changes, and I hope there is no bad news any time soon.

Since my arrival I have played an $1,100 event and two $600 events at the Venetian with no luck. I lost a flip for a $90k pot late in the day yesterday, standard tournament poker stuff. I’ve played some cash as well, sticking to Venetian since I was already there. Over the course of the time I’m in Vegas I’ll be playing seven or eight different rooms at the very least, and spending a lot of time at the Rio, but I’ve stayed in my neighborhood so far.

The cash games have been great, much softer than the tournament fields, and I’ve made some money to cover expenses splashing around in $1/2 no-limit games. I will probably play some smaller events over the next few days, maybe grind some singe table satellites at the Rio and play some cash.

My next scheduled event is the $2,500 Razz event at the WSoP on Friday. I had a semi-deep run in this event two years ago and feel very good about my Razz game, so this is an event I will never miss. Then a few Venetian events including a $1,600 buy-in and back the Rio for the $1,500 HORSE on the 13th. That will be a nice warm up for the $10k HORSE on the 16th which should be a ton of fun.

Tomorrow I’ll be talking about places to stay and places to play cash games while you are in Vegas and some basic cash no-limit strategy for players who are fairly new to live games. I’m also eager to hear about what you want to read, what you think about the blog, and I’m happy to answers any questions you post. I may not be able to check every site where this blog is posted every day, so you may want to post questions on the original at foxpoker.com.

And did I mention that my name is on the cover of Bluff Magazine this month? That’s a first for me, and a total surprise when someone handed me a copy at the table yesterday asking “Is that you?” The pic on the cover isn’t me, but my name is on the bottom left, between Mike Caro and Jennifer Tilly. Good company.

I’ll see you at the final table!

If you enjoyed this blog, please support it by buying my book or joining a fantasy sports sites through my links

This entry was posted on June 5, 2012, 6:33 pm and is filed under General, Vegas Summer Reports. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0.
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Chris ‘Fox’ Wallace

Professional poker player, poker coach, and member of the Blue Shark Optics pro team.